Impossible 1915 WW1 Victory Medal award document

**fukuoka** · 07-19-2021, 01:05 PM

Just wondering if anyone can explain this medal document I found today on Yahoo Auctions (JP). The document itself appears to be legit but the date inscribed is Taisho 3 (1915), a few years before the WW1 Victory Medal was established. Of course, no victory had even been determined at that early date...

Can this be just attributed to a human error? Can't think of what else it might be.

**Nick Komiya** · 07-19-2021, 07:15 PM

An award date of 1914 long predating the establishment of the medal is typical of war medals given out posthumously, in which case, the awarding date is the date of death. This was unavoidable so long as the war preceded the medal and happened with other medals, too, like the China Incident War medal.

**fukuoka** · 07-19-2021, 08:36 PM

(1914, right) Thanks, Nick. I have seen other examples of this practice, but, if memory serves me, the discrepancy in the dates was only a year or two. I guess the very early date confused me. Thanks again for your time and expertise.